After an eventful first week in which we had a record number of votes, the second round of Anime March Madness was no less contentious. Sixteen teams went in, and now only eight remain. You can vote on the first set of matches this round below (the rest post on Wednesday), but let’s break down last week’s matches first.
Three anime really established themselves as favorites after the last round. Number one overall seed, My Hero Academia, was pushed a bit by Code Geass, which while it found a surprising groove in earlier rounds by captivating legions of the series fans, was unable to defeat the shounen juggernaut in this past round. However, it was the number two seed in the Shounen / Popular region that had the most votes in that part of the bracket, as Attack on Titan dispatched another favorite, Your Lie in April. Meanwhile, newcomer Demon Slayer had 428 total votes in the round, the most of anime, while The Promised Neverland advanced by defeating Dr. Stone, making it all chalk for these two regions.
SHOUNEN / POPULAR REGION
(1) My Hero Academia def. (4) Code Geass, 355-263
(2) Attack on Titan def. (3) Your Lie in April, 382-307
2019 ANIME REGION
(1) Demon Slayer def. (4) Fruits Basket (2019), 428-239
(2) The Promised Neverland def. (6) Dr. Stone, 249-197
The other two regions are where the wildcards occurred. The Staff Favorites category was unseeded, and no one was quite sure who would pass forward. It ended up being Oregairu (surprising TTGL) and Kakegurui moving on. In the Critical Favorites region, though, we continued to see surprising results. Kimi ni Todoke continued to ride forward based on the strength of voting from the Beneath the Tangles Instagram account and defeated The Ancient Magus Bride; this wasn’t necessarily an upset, but after Magus won over Violet Evergarden in round one, many thought it would carry that momentum forward.
The other match in the region, however, was a major uspet. Number one seed Cowboy Bebop, a former runner-up in the competition, lost to number four seed Steins;gate. And it was close as close can be, as Christina and company won by a mere four votes. Here are the full results of those regions, though note that a couple don’t include the final numbers:
CRITICAL DARLINGS REGION
(4) Steins;gate def. (1) Cowboy Bebop, 197-193
(6) Kimi ni Todoke def. (7) The Ancient Magus Bride, 297-235
STAFF FAVORITES REGION
Kakegurui def. Ajin, 249-149
Oregairu def. Gurren Lagann, 267-142
And here’s the full updated bracket!
Now onto today’s voting! Make your votes below before at 8:00 a.m. ET tomorrow, and return Wednesday for the remaining matches. Remember that you can also vote through our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts!
